


The Dead Are Gone (But They Are Living Again)

by loveandthegrave



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Blood, Character Death, F/F, Implied Relationships, Love, Murder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-08 08:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5489654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandthegrave/pseuds/loveandthegrave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lexa and Costia share a playful moment of relief in the woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dead Are Gone (But They Are Living Again)

**Author's Note:**

> What you're about to read is the prologue of a short chapter by chapter story that will follow the order of events from The CW's show, The 100. However, the entire story will be written from Lexa's perspective!  
> Full disclosure, I am expecting the story to get pretty messy and emotional. There will be some happy moments, but I'm expecting the product to be very raw its entirety!
> 
> As I watched the show, I became haunted by Lexa's character, and I found myself with so many questions. At the same time, I also felt cheated - she is a such a beautifully written character, but we are lured in by her aggression and her mystery, and so few questions are actually answered. While the mystery itself is lovely on screen, I wanted more.  
> This work will be my way of answering some of my own questions by writing Lexa as I see her: strong, but incredibly vulnerable.  
> As the story progresses, I intend to write heavily about Lexa and Clarke's relationship. I personally found the dynamic of their romance to be incredibly unique and interesting, and I want to write about Lexa during its slow progression. I have a feeling the emotions are going to get pretty heated!
> 
> All of that being said, I'm hoping to bring Lexa's character to life by introducing her life, world, and the weight of all of her responsibilities. My hope is that I can write a rich story off of the one that has already been written and, in doing so, create a full picture!

She hides between the branches of a large tree. The brandles of twigs and leaves camouflage her frame in the forest canopy providing a perfect lookout point and hiding place.  
Her heart races as she looks around, a smile flicking across her face, proud of her position. She had done it - Costia would never find her here.  
She was certain!

Lexa loved the trees.  
Ever since she was little, she loved the forest. She loved the way the leaves stretched high into the sky as though they were trying desperately to kiss the clouds. She adored the way they pushed on and up, never wavering, but standing tall - oh, how she yearned to stand as tall as them! For now, she was young. She had few responsibilities beyond her training as Anya’s second. Yes, she was Heda, and yes, she had such big shoes to fill, but she sill had time.Though the burden of the title was heavy and taxing, for now, she was free - shrouding herself in the trees like a child as she hid from Costia. Life was simple, if only for this brief moment.

She hides quietly, listening and searching out the small steps of Costia’s feet carefully trekking the forest floor. At first, there is nothing.  
Then suddenly, she hears the faintest of steps. The smallest rustle of the ground, and her heart begins to race.  
She holds her position, listening quietly - a smile stretched from ear to ear as she seeks out the noise.  
Patiently, she waits, eyeing the forest floor from her position in the trees. She waits for what feels like ages before she sees her - her curly locks pulled back as her eyes search tentatively for Lexa’s frame in her surroundings.  
Lexa waits. She watches quietly from above, hidden by the branches - she has outsmarted Costia, or so she thinks until she sees the faint waiver in her expression - the smallest smile touching Costia’s lips before she presses on quickly through the the trees.

Lexa waits. Her eyes scan carefully as she listens. When she hears nothing, her heart slows, and her face relaxes, a smile on her lips as she let’s out a soft sigh that becomes lost in the whooshing sound of the arrow that embeds itself into the tree trunk at her back.

She has been caught.

A smile flicks across her face, and a soft laugh pulls itself from her lips as she calms her startled heart.  
Years of training, and she still can’t hide from the huntress. She has ambushed her enemies, but she is no match for Costia.

She crawls down the length of the tree before jumping from the final limb to the ground beneath her.  
It is quiet. She scans in the direction the arrow came from, carefully stepping across the forest floor.  
She listens, but all is still, and she cannot make out a sound. She steps cautiously and tentatively, stepping as though each step could be her last.  
After minutes, she begins to relax, believing that she may have very well lost track of Costia in the wake of her defeat.  
As she does, she hears the quick steps behind her, and her body jolts into position before Costia’s body crashes into hers, her wrists held and pinned to the earth, her laughter shrill and full of life.  
Costia looms down at her, a smile that oozes pride, and something else. Something soft and gentle all at once.

“With as many times as I have beaten you, Lexa, I would have expected you to have learned to steady your breathing,” Costia says to her, her voice tinging with sarcasm, and yet joy.

“How you have managed to survive with your technique is a mystery to me, Lexa! Perhaps the spirits chose poorly in selecting Heda!”  
“Shof op,” Lexa giggles, her face blushing Scarlet under Costia’s gaze before she feels Costia’s grip loosen as she grips her hand and pulls her to her feet.

Costia takes a long drink from a canteen before passing it to Lexa who has, once again, found herself trained on Costia’s eyes.  
She marvels at the soft hazel color, flecks of gold kissing the hints of green and brown fading into color together. They are dark, but bright and beautiful, and Lexa feels that they look like the earth that she so desperately loves, and for a moment, she is convinced that nothing can hold her like they can. She is sixteen, and she is in love, and no force in this world could stop the pounding in her chest.

Costia breaks her gaze as she pulls her hair free of its ties, running her fingers through her curly hair. Her cheeks flush with pink, a smirk painted onto her mouth.  
“What are you thinking,” she asks softly to Lexa who’s eyes have taken to scanning over her.  
She takes in the view - from Costia’s ragged clothing to the soft lips and dark brandles of hair framing her face.  
Everything about her reminds her of the woods and the sky. Her cheeks, now tinted pink, remind her of the color of the sun as it sets against the clouds and the mountains. Her soft skin reminds her of the color of the sand and her hair resembles the tangled branches of the trees. Her jaw and mouth, firm and strong, of the rocks and the mountains, and it occurs to Lexa suddenly - Costia reminds her of the the earth in the way that she resembles home. From the strength in her back, like that of a tree, to the color of her eyes, Costia IS home.

“Lexa?”  
Costia’s cheeks are flushed even more heavily in color than before, and it suddenly occurs to Lexa that she has been staring.

“What are you thinking?”  
Lexa’s heart flutters, and she blushes at the question.  
Her voice is a quite whisper as she says, “I was thinking that you are strong, and as beautiful as anything that I have ever laid eyes on.”

A smile curls over Costia’s lips.  
Her cheeks flush Scarlett, but she exudes confidence as she closes the space between them. She presses her palm to Lexa’s face, and whispers calmly, “It is the same for me,” before leaning in fully and pressing her lips to Lexa’s.

The kiss is soft.  
Lexa rests her hands on Costia’s lower back, and pull her gently until their bodies meet. Her lips curl against the kiss when she feels the slight shudder run through Costia's frame.  
She is soft, and Lexa wonders how such a strong girl can be so soft against her. Though they’ve shared kisses before, she finds herself pondering each time.

They kiss softly and slowly, and as the tension builds, Costia pushes Lexa gently against a tree nearer to them, and Lexa begins to wonder why she feels so cold - the warm lips of her lover like ice against her own.  
  


The air has cooled rapidly, and Costia is kissing her harder, but she is still cold, and Lexa is overwhelmed with dread.  
Her heart races, and she kisses Costia more deeply trying to kiss the warmth back into Costia's frigid body, the taste of her lips like that of a memory to Lexa long since passed away, and yet she is right there pressed into her. " _Why does it feel so different?"_ Lexa thinks to herself when she is met with the taste of blood.  
Tears prick at the corners of her eyes at the metallic taste, but she holds on, trying hard not to lose this moment.  
When her eyes overflow, she flicks them open to see the leaves, once green with life, now frosted over.  
Thick, cold, grey fog has set in around the trees and their ankles, and has begun to freeze, and Costia’s eyes are open in terror.  
Lexa pulls away, voice cracking as she says Costia’s name in a broken whisper, and watches as Costia begins to sputter on blood, her throat cut and her body becoming heavy, like lead in Lexa’s arms.

One by one, people begin stepping out from around the trees, their faces hidden beneath heavy, white hoods. With pale white hands and thin gangly fingers, they begin pulling at Costia's body, tugging at her clothes and her hair in an attempt to drag her lifeless form away from Lexa's shaking hands.  
Lexa sobs and holds on for as long as she can before a tall, white haired women grips Costia’s lifeless shoulder, and yanks her away, pulling Lexa to her hands and knees in the process.

“No!” Lexa screams.  
“She is mine! You cannot take her from me! You DO NOT GET TO TAKE HER,”

But it is too late.  
The last thing Lexa hears is the snapping of bones and the cutting of flesh as the woman cuts off Costia’s head, and suddenly, Lexa is awake.  
Her body is coated in sweat, and her eyes stinging with tears.

She tries in vain to shake the images from her head, and the taste of Costia’s blood from her lips, but it lingers.  
She has had the nightmare many times, but it is never any easier to face.

When she finally does, she curses herself for her weakness, and mutters in a mantra,  
“The dead are gone.”

She says it over and over until she can breathe easily again.

“The dead are gone,” she says  
“And the living are hungry.”


End file.
